In the last issue, I mentioned change. Well I have taken the challenge
recently to learn how to use Blogs and social networking. I am far from an
expert, but have began using them for my business. There are true
benefits with respect to the ease and accessibility of your information to
readers. By the way, a blog is simply a form of a website were the
owner can post messages to the site and users can make comments on the
messages or link the messages to their own on-line content.
I
realize no one really cares if I just had a bean burrito at noon, or the my
kid just turned 9. So, I wont be posting that type of information on
the blog at all. In fact I will tie in this newsletter to the blog so you
can look at it any time you want. For more information, see the
buttons to the right (happy blogging!)
Rob Cassam
Carolina
Realty Advisors 704-442-1774 Ext. 100
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How Do You Know If Your Landlord Is Paying His Bills? |
A question I am often
asked with respect to leasing commercial property is how one can know if the
landlord is paying his bills.
Think about it for a
second, if the landlord fails to pay his mortgage, taxes, utility bills or
any similar related expense, those vendors who have not been paid can (and
will) take legal action. That action can be anything from foreclosure,
to disconnection of services.
So what can a tenant
do?
Enter a good real estate attorney. Assuming
the tenant used a tenant rep broker to assist him with the transaction, that
broker would have negotiated important lease terms in
the form of a request for proposal and received a written answer. The
mechanisms in that letter would state how the final lease should be prepared
in order to protect that tenant.
Once the broker
received the lease which was drawn using the business points negotiated in
the request for proposal letter and it response, he would have made informal
lease comments and incorporated them with the comments of the tenant. These
comments are then given to the tenants real estate attorney for proper legal
review and manipulation.
I have NEVER been through that process with
a tenant where important lease terms did not need to be changed. It is at
this point where the real estate attorney will ensure that the necessary
protection is in that lease document prior to signing.
If the landlord will not accept these
important changes, then the good tenant broker will have an alternative
property to consider before making their final decision.
This process is important given the economic
environment today. How bad would it be for the tenants business to get
locked out of the property until payments can be brought current?
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Commercial Real Estate Data Missed The Boat |
One common misconception when it comes to commercial real estate data is
it availability. Unlike residential property listing data, the commercial data
remains fragmented with respect to aggregating it to the public.
Our
local residential board recently signed agreements to aggregate its data to all
of the major real estate portals around the Internet.
The local
commercial database still does not contain all of the all of the available
properties. Local brokers use approximately four different databases to post
their information. The unfortunate fact is that some of these databases cannot
be accessed by the public. Or if they can, not all of the information can be
accessed.
It is unlikely that this trend will change any time soon in
this market. Aside from the major benefits and value commercial brokers bring to
their clients, access to data is still a big benefit unlike the residential
side.
Any broker representing a tenant or buyer of commercial real estate
must spend a lot of time compiling a complete list of properties, polling local
commercial brokers for their data and cross checking their lists before
presenting them to their client. This time commitment is among many
reasons why good commercial brokers require written brokerage agreements prior
to engaging in that effort.
It is worth while to review the agency
types here in North Carolina and what can be expected by buyers and tenants.
They are located here at the links below.
Working with agents-buy-sell
Working with agents-lease
If one takes the time to carefully review
this and discuss this with a good broker, it is easy to see that it would be
foolish to participate in the transaction (especially on the purchase or tenant
side) without the assistance of a broker. In many cases, buyers and
tenants end up paying nothing with the dust settles.
I suggest
finding a buyer or tenant broker that you like in order to provide the valuable
services. |
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Personal Note |
If you have not tried LinkedIn, you should! I have just
started and I am enjoying connecting with old business associates and friends.
Give it a try at
www.LinkedIn.com |
Sure, it has happened to you -- you need to get a
large file or a bunch of photos to a friend, associate or Grandpa. But your
email provider bounced the message with the files attached because the big
files exceed its protocols. And you havve tried some of the services that
let you send big files but it is often a big hassle. This neat service lets you set
up a folder on your desktop at home plus folders on any other computers you
use or even on your iPhone. Getting files from one computer (or phone) to the other is as
simple as dragging a file between folders on your computer. You can also get
access to all of your files when you are on the road (even without your
computer) from your on-line folder set up with this service. And Grandpa can
see your photos instantly!
Click Here For This Tool
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Contact Information |
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What I do... |
I
provide
real estate brokerage services for small and medium sized businesses, investors,
and individuals who are fed up with loosing money, paying too much, spending too
much time not getting the right piece of property for their particular
situation.
I act as the quarterback in the real estate transaction for my clients who coach
me in managing all of their different needs.
My clients love not needing to worry about making bad decisions or bad
investments and love winning negotiations.
Ask yourself these questions:
What types of growing pains is your company facing with your location?
Are rising occupancy costs a challenge your company is facing?
Is having too much space or not enough space a challenge your company is
facing?
How much of a problem is dead equity in your property for you?
How long are you prepared to go on doing nothing about situations in
your business that are not quite right?
Give me a call, I may be able to help with your lease or purchase!
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How To
Lease Commercial Property |
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